


Three Times Ieyasu Tried To Help Mitsuhide

by anderswasright



Category: Sengoku Jidai | Sengoku Period RPF
Genre: Alternate History, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Historical Figures, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27426886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anderswasright/pseuds/anderswasright
Summary: Loosely inspired by Sanada Maru (which had a sweet unexpectedly-shippy moment with Ieyasu and Mitsuhide) and Hyouge Mono (where Ieyasu is nice to him after the banquet disaster and wants to help him out at Yamazaki but it's too late). Kind of turned into its own thing.(Yeah, I know the whole “Nobunaga beat Mitsuhide” thing is mostly Edo era fanfiction + Frois but hey. It’s fanfic :D)
Relationships: Akechi Mitsuhide/Tokugawa Ieyasu





	Three Times Ieyasu Tried To Help Mitsuhide

**1.**

Mitsuhide wishes he didn't say anything as his lord screams at him and bashes his head against the railing again and again.

"Please forgive me!" It was just an innocent remark. He wanted to congratulate his fellow generals, but Nobunaga took it as "bragging" and attacked him without so much as a warning.

Nobunaga throws him on the floor and yells a few more insults, then, thankfully, he returns to the room.

Mitsuhide thinks it's best not to move. He has seen Nobunaga angry before, but never like this. He's bleeding, in pain and terrified.

Then he feels someone embrace him. When he looks up, he sees Lord Ieyasu.

"Are you alright?" he asks, cradling him in his arms and gently wiping the blood from his face.

"Thank you" he whispers. The unexpected kindness almost brings him to tears. None of his fellow retainers tried to help him. Of course, they are all afraid of Nobunaga's wrath.

"Can you stand?" Ieyasu tries to help him up.

"I hope so…"

Ieyasu supports him and leads him to his own quarters.

"It's best if you're out of his sight now" he says.

Mitsuhide is dizzy and he can barely walk. He might have a concussion. When they arrive, he collapses and Ieyasu can barely catch him.

He blacks out for a few moments – or maybe longer. He wakes up to Ieyasu holding him.

"No, no, don't move. I sent Honda for a doctor."

"It's not that serious…"

"You passed out." Ieyasu looks worried. "It's better to be safe. Just rest."

Mitsuhide feels safe in his arms. It's tender and intimate, and he's too weak to move anyway.

"You are so kind to me, Ieyasu-dono…"

"Why did Lord Nobunaga get so angry?"

"I wish I knew… he's been so irrational lately… he seems to hate me and I don't know what I have done to offend him."

Ieyasu sighs.

"None of us really understand him, I'm afraid…"

They stay like this until the doctor arrives, and despite the pain, Mitsuhide feels warmth and gratitude.

**2.**

After the banquet, Ieyasu leaves Azuchi by boat and goes directly to Sakamoto castle. He feels like he owes Mitsuhide an apology after that unfortunate scene.

He really didn't have any problem with the food. It was Nobunaga who flew into a rage on his behalf, flipped over the table and humiliated Mitsuhide in front of everyone, yet again.

_"You are a disgrace! How dare you serve something like this to our guests!" He ignored Mitsuhide's protests that they only got the best quality food, he had personally checked everything._

_"I don't care about your excuses! This is unacceptable!" Nobunaga hit him with his fan. The sharp edge cut him and blood trickled down on his forehead. Then the lord kicked him a few times._

_"I'm deeply sorry!"_

_Nobunaga drew his blade, and that was when Ieyasu interfered. He couldn't just sit there and watch._

_"Nobunaga-dono, please, leave him alone. There is really nothing wrong with the fish."_

_Nobunaga glared at Mitsuhide, but eventually sheathed his blade._

_"You are dismissed from your duty as host. Return to Sakamoto and await further orders."_

_This isn't over, his expression said._

_Mitsuhide apologized again to both of them, then left, visibly shaken._

_Ieyasu pulled Nobunaga aside._

_"Please, don't punish him further. Even if he made a mistake, he's clearly doing his best."_

_"His best just isn't good enough!" Nobunaga barked. "I'll leave him waiting for a while. Let him worry about what orders I send."_

_"You don't mean to order him to die, right?" Ieyasu was really concerned by now._

_"No. I can still find some use for him. Maybe I will send him to serve under Hideyoshi's command, so he learns his place."_

Ieyasu doesn't want poor Mitsuhide to spend days waiting, anxious about the future. The lord is just too cruel to treat him like this.

"Ieyasu-dono?" Mitsuhide is surprised to see him. "Please accept my apologies…"

"No, no, it's me who owes you an apology, Mitsuhide-dono." Ieyasu stops him from bowing. "I assure you, the feast was perfectly fine. The lord was in one of his moods again…"

"You defended me… I'm so grateful."

"He hurt you again…"

"It's just a cut. It's not as bad as last time." The bloodstained bandage on his head says otherwise.

"Come, let us sit. You are very pale." Ieyasu sits close to him, and wishes he could help. But all he can offer is sympathy.

"I can't take this for much longer" Mitsuhide says. He looks broken. "Why wait for his orders when I already know he wants me dead?"

"He doesn't…"

"He would have cut me down if you didn't stop him." He glances at Ieyasu, tired and hopeless. "I will commit seppuku tonight."

"No!" Ieyasu gently takes his hand. "Do not give in to despair. He's not worth dying for."

"Ieyasu-dono…" Mitsuhide grasps his hand. He struggles to find words.

"Promise me you will live. Maybe the future still has something good in store for you." Ieyasu reaches out and touches his cheek. Mitsuhide can't keep it together anymore at that tender gesture and starts crying.

What can he do? Ieyasu embraces him, like he did once before, a few months earlier. And Mitsuhide clings to him like he's his only salvation.

"It will be alright" Ieyasu says, holding him close.

**3.**

When Ieyasu hears about the Honno-ji incident, he's stunned at first. He didn't think Mitsuhide had it in him to rebel, and yet… is it really surprising, after Nobunaga's constant torment? Even the most loyal dog will bite you if you keep kicking him.

It's hard to imagine that a man like Nobunaga could be dead. He may have had it coming, and such a violent, fiery demise was most fitting – fate had a sense for irony. And this means the realm once again falls into chaos.

_Mitsuhide, what have you done? This will surely bring your doom…_

But for now, Ieyasu has to think of his own safety. He knows Mitsuhide wouldn't want to hurt him – but his men might. He needs to get home to Mikawa, fast.

It's a dangerous and exhausting journey, but thanks to his faithful shinobi, he pulls through, just barely avoiding enemy troops. What can he do now but wait? Getting involved in the inevitable battles to come would be very stupid indeed.

_I'm a coward_ , Ieyasu admits to himself. _But I survived this long because of that._

Yet, as he hears about Hashiba Hideyoshi's miraculously fast march home, his guilt urges him to do something to help.

"Hanzo."

"My lord?"

"I have a task for you."

*

Ieyasu takes only Hanzo and a small group of shinobi, all disguised as travelling monks to avoid unwanted attention from either army or any bandits.

"My lord, this is most unwise" Hanzo says.

"I'm cautious and patient almost all the time. Can't a man be unwise just once in a while?"

"Are you infatuated with him?"

"Don't be insolent, Hanzo" Ieyasu chides him. The shinobi watches his lord with a knowing smile. Ieyasu huffs. The nerve! "Maybe. A little bit."

He is not entirely sure of his feelings himself. He just knows he wants to save Mitsuhide if he can. He wants to give the man a chance for a better life than he had with Lord Nobunaga.

He also wants to hold him again.

It's been raining all day. The battle rages. They can't do much but observe from a distance, and wait.

Hideyoshi has a much bigger army, and gets the high ground early on. There is only one outcome. No matter how bravely the Akechi army fights, they are eventually overwhelmed and routed.

"How will we even find him?" Hanzo asks. "It's getting dark, there are fleeing soldiers everywhere, and it's pouring."

"He will be heading for Sakamoto castle" Ieyasu says. "We should go that way. We can either catch up to him on the road or at the castle."

"The castle will be surrounded by Hashiba-dono's army in no time! My lord, you could get yourself into serious trouble if we are trapped there."

"I could mediate, if it comes to that…"

"Hashiba-dono wants revenge for his lord. He won't negotiate."

"Then we have to get Akechi-dono and his family to safety before the castle is surrounded."

*

Hours pass. It's midnight, the rain is relentless, and Ieyasu wonders if they are lost. But Hanzo never loses his way. They are on the right track, and nearing the castle. A bamboo grove surrounds the road, and Ieyasu starts to feel uncomfortable. This place was made for an ambush. Then he stumbles and nearly falls over a dead bandit. Hanzo catches him by the arm and raises his lantern. Several dead samurai and bandits lie on the road. The ground is soaked with blood – fresh enough that the rain couldn't wash it away yet.

Ieyasu is gripped by a terrible foreboding. There are blood-soaked Akechi banners scattered among he fallen. The bandits must have attacked the group of defeated, fleeing soldiers, as it was custom after battles.

He cries out Mitsuhide's name, desperately hoping he won't find him here among the dead. _Maybe he was with a different group. Maybe he got away. Please, let him be safe._

He hears a faint whisper.

"Ieyasu-dono?"

He rips the lantern from Hanzo's hand and rushes over.

"Mitsuhide!" For the first time ever, he forgets to add the honorific when speaking to him. He falls on his knees beside the man, and he grows pale to see Mitsuhide's clothes are drenched in blood. A bamboo spear hit him between the ribs. It's been cut in half but it's still lodged in the wound.

Ieyasu sets the lantern on the ground and carefully takes Mitsuhide in his arms.

"You came… Ieyasu-dono, this was risky, and foolish, and…"

"Shhh…" Ieyasu tries to stop the bleeding with his sleeve. "Hold on, please. We will take you to safety."

Mitsuhide tries to smile.

"Thank you… for everything." He puts a hand over Ieyasu's. "I'm afraid you can't save me this time…"

"Don't say that…" Ieyasu knows, deep down, that it's too late. But he refuses to admit it. "Don't…"

"I'm dying." Mitsuhide has no illusions.

"Not like this!" Ieyasu holds him close, as if he could protect him that way. "Not like this… you deserve better than to die at the hands of some bandit."

"It's a fitting fate for a traitor." There is regret in his eyes.

"Lord Nobunaga had it coming" Ieyasu says with a bitter expression. "How many has he killed? Now his victims can finally have peace. You did what you had to, Mitsuhide-dono." He thinks about his wife and son, about the countless monks, women and children, about the fate of the Azai and Asakura, the Takeda, and so many others… Nobunaga had a lot to pay for.

"Ieyasu-dono…" Mitsuhide looks up at him. Blood trickles from his mouth. "It would have been an honour… to serve you."

"I wanted to have you by my side…" Ieyasu is fighting back tears. No. He has to be strong. "I…"

"You don't have to say it. Your kindness and your care already told me…" Mitsuhide struggles the speak. Ieyasu lifts him into a sitting position so he can breathe easier.

The dying samurai grabs the broken spear and tries to remove it.

"Don't… you will bleed out." Ieyasu tries to stop him.

"I just want it to be over…" He's clearly in horrible pain. "Ieyasu-dono… help me…"

Ieyasu knows there is nothing he can do. He nods, grasps the spear firmly and quickly pulls it out.

At the very least, it seems to bring some relief to Mitsuhide. He falls back into Ieyasu's arms with a sigh. Blood is pouring from the wound, mixing with rain and seeping into the earth.

Ieyasu cradles him and caresses his hair. Mitsuhide closes his eyes. His breathing grows weaker. He sinks into the waiting darkness, and it takes Ieyasu a few moments to realize he's gone.

"May you have sweet dreams…" he whispers as he holds him close.

Then he finally allows himself to weep.


End file.
